Blood In The Fog
by AssaultRookie
Summary: Planet's colonies have been vanishing with only blood splatters to trace. Platoons to investigate have been disappeared in the same manner. Now the UNSC is sending Harry 025 and Fireteam Zenith to stop the emerging darkness which will yet again put Earth, UNSC and the whole of humanity on the brink
1. Chapter 1 - A Start

**Hello – Assault Rookie here (yeah – bad nickname. Deal with it.)**

**This here – Blood in the Fog is my first fan fiction. As of yet I have not been able to complete this yet. I am planning to finish it by like, in the distant future, possibly, like, later. Boom – definition of ambiguity. In all seriousness, it is intended to finish at C60+, considering that each chapter is about 1000 words or so.**

**Feel free to message or review or comment to suggest, or feel free to do anything with this story (but you have to give credit to me or you'll DIEEEEEE). If you've read a couple of chapters and you like it, please leave a like, a review or a comment. Thanks again, and ENJOY!**

"Fog? Didn't we take it back when the bloody Brute apes got their ass kicked?" I stated, annoyed, looking at Jack through the console. The reply was stern. "Things have changed, Spartan 025." I disliked that – even though I was a Spartan 4, a fully-fledged soldier, it was not going to change my humanity. Nonetheless, my squad commander continued with his deep commanding voice, "Entire planets' colonies have been disappearing. This is not a simple case and must be stopped. Our ride will be tomorrow. Be prepared." Dam. Out of all the planets we needed to be put into Fog. "Why should it be Fog?" I complained, "Last time a platoon tried to investigate they couldn't see a damned thing – they call it Fog for a reason. And they disappeared like the citizens. Plus all their shit got fried to hell." The gaunt face in the screen looked blankly at me. When he does that, it means "shut your mouth if you want to keep your heart". And I liked my heart, so I stopped. "Debriefing closed. Dismissed," and with that the console turned off.

I sighed. Ever since the UNSC discovered that giant metal ball with a fancy name called Requiem, it went all paranoid for anything like a Composer. It was reasonable to some extent – but when planets were abandoned with no bodies, well, UNSC was more like Hamster on Coffee. I walked to my cabin, with a grunt at the door – the room was of course, too tight. UNSC _Sunlight_ wasn't a frigate designed for Spartans. In fact my fire team and a couple others were the only ones in the fleet. That was a downside – we were alienated from most other marines. And another one was because of the size of the cabins, I needed to share rooms with other normal marines. _Just because I am a rookie_, I grudged. I walked in and all marines snapped to attention – all were same rank as me and fresh out of boot, but being a Spartan gives you some base respect. At least I had some authority, though I thought it was a pathetic one too. I took my armour off– I was quite an odd one out of my fire-team, because everyone thought that sleeping encased with titanium plates and gel without a single contact with real air was good. I slept uneventfully, preparing for my mission tomorrow.

And thus, tomorrow came – the kind of tomorrow you need to go inside a shithole and do nothing. Stupid tomorrow. Off I went to the briefing – we were already briefed over coms and consoles, but UNSC was, as usual, paranoid. I was glad to meet familiar faces – or faces behind a visor. Sam 049– the technician, renounced for memorising whole manuals about stuff I don't even care about. Adam 099 – heavy weapons and vehicles specialist, with an obsession over big fireballs. Jack 113 – the leader of our fire team, the run of the mill chisel faced commander. Harry 025 – me, the "assault into the enemy cause you are a rookie" dude. For some reason I was called "Joker", to this point I cannot figure out why. Anyway we made up Fireteam Zenith. I suggested "Commando" or "Skull-cruncher" but they were dismissed, as per usual Jack.

We hopped on a raggedy-ass Pelican and the Pelican jolted a lot. "Shit, can't UNSC install stabilisers into these Pelicans?" I cried. Sam started to speak, but I quickly injected, "whatever. It's better than getting blown up mid-air like 14th Squad." I felt a little sorry, but when Sam starts to speak, he will speak. For a long time – about how the coupling manifest is too big, or the Pelican's aerodynamics is too inefficient… and it goes for hours. I remember last debriefing Sam started to recite the frigate's airlock circuitry, and we all excused to leave and escaped to our cabins. Even the officer tried to escape and dismiss, but Sam held him back. According to Jack we were committing insubordination, but at that time we were too desperate. The pelican jolted again.

Jack looked at me and warned me, "Cut your attitude – we don't know what's down there. We don't need complaining."

"But what else do I take on when I cut my attitude?" I retorted

"No complaining – professional attitude."

"This IS my professional attitude!"

Then he stared at me with his death stare, and I stopped. Of course, I did not know what his facial expression was, but it was a certain aura that was given off when he did that. "ETA 3 minutes – check your weaponry." he grumbled. I reached and grabbed my assault rifle – standard issue, the all-time fashion trend for a rookie. And the matching pistol. Then I grabbed Slicer. It was a small dagger, not military but a rarity, being made up of thorium magnets and titanium B. Awesome for stabbing through shields, Slicer and I go a long way back. I sat there and admired my handiwork yet again. It was a little weird praising my own work – but look at that sharpness!

"ETA 30 seconds!" Jack barked. I holstered by assault rifle, sheathed Slicer and stood up – oh and attached my thruster pack. Looking around, it reminded me of my petty arsenal. Sam took on the stick-det (sticky detonator) and shotgun, with Promethean Vision. Adam had his Xploder – customised rocket launcher and a SAW, plus he attached his Hard light shield. Jack had a battle rifle and a DMR. What really stumped me was that he got the jet pack! The Pelican shuddered, groaned and landed roughly, then creakily opened the doors. We stood up and turned to face the fog (man, I've always wanted to do that as an ODST).

**I think this part is called the afterword. Or something. Anyway, please review, and comment – message me if you want to. Also, this afterword thing will contain any boring foot notes or after notes. **


	2. Chapter 2 - The Base

"Looks like rogue Covies raided the place." I remarked as I entered a barrack, "all the weapons are gone and the ammo, too." Adam grunted in boredom, along with the other marines that gathered around and investigated the bases. It was just like what I had imagined – sitting there, taking a few scans, and then concluding that they all died in some sickness and return home. Sitting there? Check. Taking scans? Check. But not the last step. Jack as usual wanted to make the best report as possible. We were set into a certain base bored into a strange mountain, while others scattered throughout the continent. They had 1 Spartan team on each side of the planet – to make sure the least effectivity as possible. To me, this whole mission was a dud. Well, we had a few leads with blood splatters, but there weren't a trail that we could track. "Looks like they need a renovation, cause tis feels like a ghost base. Like everyone decided, 'hey, let's leave this dammed planet', which I feel like doing about now." I whispered to myself. Oops, had my comms on – and here comes the reply: "We can't leave now – we have to have a definite conclusion and not leave behind any survivors of the incident." By the slight American accent it was Jack. Then came a British voice, belonging to Sam: "We can send a squad through the maintenance B14 tunnel, which leads directly to the underground classified chambers. It is approximately 1.5 metres diameter –"

"Yeah – wait, did you memorise the base blueprints again? Wow, you could've taken all that time to investigate-"I interrupted, but in turn was interrupted by Jack

"Cut the chatter Harry. Switch off your comms."

I grudgingly complied – oh, did I mention that Jack wasn't too keen on me being on Fireteam Zenith? I continued to walk through the barracks, looking around to find any clues. There were a few signs of battle, but it was very faint and subtle. I silently walked through the barracks again. Perhaps there was anything that I missed? I tiptoed back down the halls. I mean stomped – it's pretty hard to tiptoe with a titanium armour on. Something flashed on my radar – something red. It was only for a split second, but enough for me to trace it. Wait, there it was again. I held my breath and crept through the abandoned kitchen. Out of my peripheral vision, I saw a flash, a very faint whoop and silence. Holstering my pistol, I put my finger on the safety- off switch. Jeez, a Promethean Vision would be VERY useful here! Instead, it was used by Sam – i.e. used for nothing. Goddam. The only thing I had was the occasional flicker mid-air. Perhaps it was an elite, biding its time. Or a grunt. Or a jackal. Or a knight. Or a crawler. Dammit, there were too many possibilities to decide to fight or run. I took a deep breath. Running from a grunt will be humiliating. Any strong enemies will probably catch up.

Well, shit.

I silently unsheathed my Slicer, and holding a pistol in one hand and Slicer on the other, I circled the flicker. Then I thought again and decided if it was not an enemy – like a civilian cloaked somehow, I didn't want to stab them. Well, they would be crushed by 5 tons of metal then stabbed to bits. Perhaps killing them once was better than twice. I replaced my weapons, then readied my hands for a quick snap. Then I struck. Pouncing, I smashed into the flicker, but not 100% of my force. It was enough to make the flicker reveal itself – a sentinel! The sentinel dropped down its cloak, wildly focused its camera unto me, and stated "Reclaimer" in that weird robotic voice. Then started to flash all over, shuddering and beeping out counts: "20, 19, 18…" I swore when I realised what it was doing, then tried to disable it. I mean by striking it in random places. It got down to its last 10, then I decided to unsheathe my Slicer. I struck it down as hard as I can at its core, but on it continued. "3"… I jiggled my knife in desperation… "2" … I poured out obscenities… "1"… then silence. I sat back, panting, and looked at the disabled Sentinel. That little bitch nearly killed me! Or blew out my shields and wounded me for any more sentinels. Shit. Shit. Shit. I didn't know what to do – to report to Jack and risk "insubordination", or run and risk setting off any alarms. I decided to risk angry Jack. I turned on comms and radioed in… "Jack… Jack?" I listened for the reply… but instead of the familiar accent it came up with some garbled message. My de-encryptor decided to bomb out, and Zenith did not carry around AIs. I slowly took Slicer out of the disabled sentinel and checked for any identity tags – maybe I could sneak past the sentinels? I saw something that looked like a tag, and I took it, not too sure about it. I sighed. The one time I really need Sam, he's probably rambling on and on how B14 tunnel is the most efficient way. Perhaps they've noticed the communications jam. But for now, I was isolated and weak. Shit shit shit. I holstered my assault rifle and tried to creep through the doorway. But my motion tracker thought differently – it lit up like a firework, signalling a whole procession of sentinels within the vicinity. And all converging on my position! Three's a charm, so SHIT SHIT SHIT! The floating tin-heads bobbled on the doorway, waiting for a burst in. 3….2…1… SPRINT! I started off from my cover and ran right to the doorway. The sentinels bleeped red and opened fire, firing blazing red beams. I immediately felt the hydro-gel inside the armour start to boil, and I watched the shield bar drain crazily. Just before I hit the front sentinel, I slid under it and used the momentum to jump up and sprint without losing speed. The sentinel at the back quickly spun around and started to fire again. Just before my shield went out I dived into a tunnel. I silently spun around and aimed my assault rifle at the entrance. As soon as the sentinel came in, I opened fire. The sentinel's shield held off most bullets, but when I pulled out my Slicer and stabbed it, the bastard decided to retreat. Rule number one: When in doubt, stab. Before more can come in, I quickly crawled into the dark.

**Did you notice that the word count is always 1,117?**


	3. Chapter 3 - The Tunnels

Perhaps the tunnel wasn't designed to fit a Spartan. Then again, who would've thought that a Spartan would be creeping around in maintenance tunnels? It's Fog, for all planets – a planet with 2 climates. Climate 1 - Foggy with micro-dust that seeps in through most places – including equipment without airtight guards. It's also fatal to humans when breathed in and if not, pisses the hell out of everyone. The fog lasts for days (which gives the planet its name), but sometimes it fades into: Climate 2 - Sunny. When I mean sunny, I mean hell sunny. Literally. Any organics caught in the sunlight will instantly combust. Radiation levels overload MJONIR shielding (which is why we had to go in when it was Climate 1) and most equipment or humans without radiation shielding fries and dies. The only reason why the UNSC jumped in here was that it was really rich in several minerals – they even found Forerunner artifacts! Then the UNSC started to REALLY obsess over here. Besides UNSC, brave people are spurred into exploring here – people in this sector dare on another to stay here for more than a week. I widened some tunnels by pounding the sides – it wasn't much, but it did something. There were some obstacles that I had to face, such as some security password doors that I had to punch over and over until it gave way – what? If a method works, do it (my motto). I did not know which way I was going – the comms jam was still in the air. I decided to record the tunnels I crouched through – B12, B13, and B14… what? I snorted in this stupid coincidence. I was inside the very tunnels that Sam recommended. Well, it was something and I decided to follow his way. I continued to crawl through the dark chambers, and I was growing restless. If I got attacked from the behind, then I had no way of reversal.

I crawled on and on until… I saw I could go no further. It was a dead end. Dammit, and the jam was still in place, so I didn't have a chance of getting rescued. I decided to reverse and put my hand on the dead end for a boost– but suddenly, the whole wall lit up and there was a very small shape of light that appeared in front of me. It looked like a 5 pointed star with a circle in the middle. Or it looked like the identity tag! I took it out and shoved it inside. The shape spat it back out and opened way for a small hole on the floor of the tunnel. There was some kind tunnel and a ladder leading downwards. I came to a decision – should I continue to reverse or go through there? There were 2 kinds of things below there: bad stuff or good stuff. Up here, only bad stuff. Without thinking I manoeuvred myself to climb down. But as soon as my foot stepped on the rung, the rung decided to hang loose and let me fall – while breaking every single rung on the way! "Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit…" I swore, each word belonging to each rung breaking. I landed at the bottom with a large clang. I wasn't hurt at all, but I looked up and I knew I was cut off.

Well, shit.

I turned around and expected another hauling crawl. But I wish I hadn't because I was right. I sighed and decided to crawl through – but as soon as I crouched down, I saw a flickering light at the end of the tunnel. Excited, curious and terrified, I scrambled through the tunnel and reached the end of the tunnel – it opened into a wide open space. I stood up on some kind of light bridge and saw that and stretched a little. If there was a battle, I wanted to be as ready as I could. Then I took out my assault rifle and brought it up, finger on the safety switch. I looked around and saw that I was in some kind of sewage. Or a waste disposal, because there were nothing but some streams of different kinds of liquid, criss-crossing the floor, all of them giving out an omniscient light. I looked over the bridge curiously. They were flowing somewhere, but I didn't know where. Then there were these pipes going all across the ceiling, and the walls were marked with several forerunner writing. Okay – I knew that once in my life that I would miss people I have hated – but I didn't know that I would miss Sam TODAY. Suddenly, the whole room lurched and I was nearly thrown off. I staggered and readied my weapons, pointing my assault rifle. My radiation alarm suddenly went off and I instinctively ran and lunged, the very spot I stood exploding with red lasers. I rolled frontwards and spun pointing my rifle at… I was astonished. Legions of crawlers poured out holes that were invisible to me before, with watchers and finally a knight, squeezing through. The sentinels bobbed after them, and aimed at me. I was confused as well as shocked – why hadn't the army attacked me in the tunnels and HOW THE HELL WERE THERE PROMETHANS?!

Usually, I would spit a witty comment at them, then charge at then because I was a rookie, knowing that Adam was going to Xplode them, as he liked to put it. Or that Sam was going to pull up a gadget out of his hat – I mean helmet. Or that Jack will stage a cunning ambush (by which he usually meant calling reinforcements. Honestly, I always thought that was cheating.) But without my team, I have lost strength. The strength of the wolf was the strength of the pack, and the strength of the pack was the strength of the wolf. And today, I had lost my pack. I dropped my weapons, knowing they would be useless. And the army opened fire.

**Whoa, what a cliff-hanger! I love cliff-hangers, they make people SUFFER! I always stated that if life gives you lemons, squeeze them into people's eyes and make their lives miserable. Which tells you something. **

**Also, one of the characters in the story has my real name.**

**I remind you – please review and and/or message and/or like. It really helps and makes my hard work pay off, because I know that I have pleased you and at least made someone's life better than before reading it. I mean it's pretty bad obsessing over it I know, but as a writer I just have to obsess over it. So PLEASE review!**


	4. Chapter 4 - Savior Saved

I closed my eyes. This was going to be it. For the next second I would be ripped to shreds, and I would die alone in the underground chambers with no-one to remember me. Or the next second. Or the one after that… what the hell? I squinted to look – in front of me was a giant shield - a blue, glowing shield of hard light. I was relieved, but after taking too much tension and energy in my last moments of my life, I fainted.

I coughed and came to – and saw a split-chin lizard (it was an elite, but it's a scientifically accurate term to call them this.) staring right into me! I realised I was on the ground of some sort. The best thing to do here: stab. I unsheathed Slicer and was ready to stab the bitch, but then the elite roared a demand. My translator woke up and hurried to translate, and it said: "Stand down!" The speaker was waaaay too loud! Should've tuned it down, and I regretted overriding auto-adjustment settings. I was stunned and bewildered. "No-one commands me!" I roared back, spinning around and trying to flip myself up. But the elite looked at me in a stare which said "don't do anything stupid." It was Jack's death stare! Shit, I thought I've escaped it – alright, now I know I was in Hell. I complied and stopped, and the elite looked around quickly – and motioned me to stand up. I sheathed my Slicer and stood up, reasoning that if it was to eat me, then it would have finished by now. I quickly checked my weapons – all there – and then took account of my surroundings: I was in some sort of hallway, the walls still glittering with the hieroglyphics. The lighting was slightly dim, but good enough for me to see the elite motioning me to follow. I silently followed, nervous about the outcomes of this, but for now I had to have faith in the elite.

It turned out just fine with the faith – and I hated it because I was looking forward to the killing elites part. We arrived in a small encampment of some sort, with 2 makeshift shelters of broken metal. Large targets glowing on a wall showed that it used to be a large shooting arena – maybe for AI targeting calibrations? I looked around and it was all elites. Everyone, that is about 5, came out and looked at me hopefully – what? So straight out of boot, I get sent off to 2 standard missions, and the third I am trapped in a forerunner structure and everyone regarding me as a freaking saviour or something. Shit shit shit. The elite I came with talked to the apparently leader elite, and I just stood impatiently.

The leader elite suddenly turned to me, and the translator said: "I've always had faith in the Arbiter, and so he was true to his words. I have not known that salvation would come so swiftly. Please, lead us out and save us from this structure." Arbiter? The companion to the legendary Spartan, the Master Chief? Okay – so they asked Arbiter for help (wait, how did they get through the comms jam?) and Arbiter asked some-body, probably a human, to come here in this shithole and rescue survivors. And that somebody was probably a Spartan, like me, and an experience one too, if they were going down alone. Don't tell me they mistook me for Master Chief. I followed them into a shelter and the leader sat down, and started, "Master Chief…" SHIT SHIT SHIT"… My name is Thios 'Vthaam. We have arrived here 5 cycles ago, where our intent of our exploration was for scouting for any forerunner artifacts. We had arrived at a structure in the fog-storm, and took refuge in a forerunner structure. However the facility and its guards activated after 2 days of shelter, and we were forced to fight our way here. We made a camp here after clearing out the sentinels and camouflaging our location. We temporarily disabled the communications disrupter and sent the Arbiter the message. "

After he finished the story I didn't know what to do. Should I break it to him that I was not the Master Chief? Or play along? They would despair if I break it and feel betrayed afterwards if I don't. Dammit, whatever – "Umm… I am sorry… uh… how should I put this… I am not The One you are looking for." I confessed. Immediately the elites cried out in despair. All except for one. The leader remained silent. I continued, "I'm just a Spartan IV rookie, fresh outa boot. Not really an experienced legend with the one of the only two hyper-lethal ranks. I sorta just got lost, got chased by sentinels and ended up here." But the leader kept on looking at me – I should call him with his name now, Thios. Thios just stared at me for a long time, and after a long and awkward silence, he broke it, saying "then you must be a hero from the gods. We shall guide you. Then you must do the rest." I sighed and wished someone who knew how to do stuff actually come here, like Jack. But these dudes are stuck with me. And I'm stuck with them! The leader stood up and announced, "We are heading towards the Gates tomorrow. Get your gear ready." I looked at my assault rifle – 4 fresh clips with a full clip inside. The pistol had 6. Then the elites started to crawl into their shelters, but I had none. Rude. I decided to pick a high spot – yes, the control room – and started to climb up. There were ladders, but a little sturdier than the entrance. I reached the controls and was pondered if the controls still worked. I didn't touch it, in case it summoned freaking sentinel-Godzilla. I sat down uncomfortably. Looks like I'll have to sleep in my armour, in case the Elites came up here for a bite of human meat. I leaned against a wall and closed my eyes.

But the night was restless. I couldn't sleep, after all that happened – plus, I'm still "the Master Chief" to the leader. It kept me on the edge. Thank Chief for that – because through my eye lids I saw a little dot beeping on my radar – but somehow, the comms jam fried my FOF tagging system. I snapped open my eyes and tracked it carefully. The beep carefully circled the camp, then started to climb – towards me! Lucky bastard. I suddenly lunged for the bustling shadow. But what came next I could never have imagined.


	5. Chapter 5 - The Pack

I lunged for the shadow, but was suddenly stopped midway – the figure expertly used my momentum and fluidly diverted my direction, smashing me unto a wall. I was dazed – I have not expected this. I knew that no Promethean can use those manoeuvres –Grunts, Jackals or Brutes were too dumb and it was of course, not a sentinel. The figure stood up before me, a towering black shadow. I gained enough sense to turn on my flash light – and snorted. "Why the hell are you here?" I asked, still annoyed that Adam managed to beat me in hand to hand combat. Adam gave his hand and said in an Australian accent, "Want some help mate?" I sighed and I took it, my flashlight showing the rest of the squad. Jack requested every detail of my journey here, and I had to spend the whole night explaining that I didn't go AWOL on purpose. I was about to ask how the hell they come here, but Jack simply replied "You went missing and we searched for you. We were ambushed and escaped here." Right. I spent 2 hours explaining my story and Jack says in 2. Sentences. I peered outside and saw the elites stirring, and motioned my squad to come down. Well, I had more experience, so I guessed I could play leader.

But NOPE! Jack was Jack, and he needed to take control. After the usual pep talk, we packed all our stuff, which was not much, and got ready to get our asses out of here. I took point as usual, the meat shield guy. I advanced through the corridor, hefting my assault rifle. I reached the corner and knew it was going to be a fight from now on. Jack radioed in, "On my mark…" But I shouted, "Mark!" and turned into a room, and saw two patrolling sentinels. I shot down the first, and the second swivelled around to me, just in time to see the butt of my rifle cracking its eye. The others caught up and Jack growled, "That was reckless – it's the 15th time that I've have warned you. Next time –"

"I will be taken out of the Fireteam? Cool – but I did whatever got the job done." I said

"You know the consequences, but still show inability to follow orders. Why?"

"Yeah – I've got this syndrome called I-Hate-Enemies. A particularly severe case of it."

We glared each other for a long time, but Jack knew he was beat. He sighed and the elites started to guide us again. They radioed me the instructions, and I scouted away, getting my ass kicked by several enemies before the team caught up. But hey! I got all the cool weapons, and the fashion show was colourful! From scattershot to suppressor to light rifle, I got hands on weapons I could only have imagined using in combat. And I saved best for the last – incineration cannon. Then I primarily used my secondary, my scattershot.

We arrived in some sort of factory gateway, but it was guarded by several watchers and knights. I snuck up behind them, but didn't report back. I wanted these knights to be my kill. As soon as the watchers turned away, I jumped out of my cover, the knights snapping to attention. The other knights were an easy kill, and I was glad there were no lancers. But 2 problematic knights were present too. One was a BATTLEWAGON and the other was a COMANDER. I cursed my luck and quickly dodged as the commander shot a red ball of pure death. The balls exploded, clearly missing me but the orbitals catching me offside. I was tossed to the floor, my shield hissing and dying. Then the battlewagon took a clear shot, hitting me in my right arm. Other knights opened fire. I groaned when a light rifle shot hit my leg. Before I could be shredded to pieces, I scrambled back to safety, as the hard light bullets sizzled and hissed over my head. I swore, took out a plasma grenade and threw it – sticking to a Promethean's mask. It didn't even flinch, and kept firing. I snorted in disgust of the stupid bravery and rewarded the Promethean with scattershot shell, detonating the grenade and the knight covered in blue plasma.

My heart pounded, and knew that it wasn't entirely wise to mess with them first. Suddenly Jack radioed in, "What's going on down there? Why have you not reported?" he demanded. "If you think you can give a blow by blow report when you are dodging incinerator shots, you can take point." I said angrily. Then there was a moment of silence, then a reply, "okay we are going in. Hold your position until we arrive." The bullets were still whizzing by. I needed to do something. I looked around hysterically, then spotted some crates. I dashed to the crates, my shield sizzling. I was about to move the crates, but then I thought of something I quickly stood back, stuck the crate with grenades and kicked it with all my might. Quickly dived to cover, just in time to hear a large explosion. I smiled in satisfaction as empty armour plating flung in all directions. What a handy timing – the rest of the squad arrived. Jack looked at me, then the blackened entrance, then back to me. "What", I said, with exaggerated compliance, "I held my point and FOLLOWED ORDERS." Then I turned around and started to walk through the entrance, hiding a grin of victory that only I knew it was there.

Finally, the elites guided us into this auditorium of some sort, the same hieroglyphics covering the walls. As we entered, I immediately knew, this was going to be a tough battle. The crawlers poured out from all directions, watchers busily teleporting in new ones. The knights were in legions, silently commanding the lower Prometheans. We had little cover, the only cover being 2 small engines standing near the entrance, and little ammo. But the biggest problem was the sentinels. As I watched in horror, the sentinels all converged into each other, arranging their shape in a macabre elegancy. The end product? A big ass, multilayered tank, with one giant laser cannon lighting up like an angry evil-eye and a number of small lasers to back it up. Hovering over the knights, it looked more menacing than a Scarab. I gritted my teeth and growled, "This is going to be one tough son of a bitch to take down!"

**Hold your horses, readers! I know that I skipped a lot of battles, but the next chapter is going to be all about the battle!**


	6. Chapter 6 - The Battle

**Hey guys! Thanks for all the support – 150 views, wow. That is quite awesome. Thanks for viewing my story, but please chuck in a review, because it really helps to get my story on track. Thanks guys!**

I slammed my back on the small engine as the legions opened fire. It was a good thing that there was a short corridor between the entrance and the auditorium, but the numbers were too large. With no break between the barrages, we didn't have time to return fire. I pulled out a fragmentation grenade and bounced it on the wall. I worriedly looked at my HUD; according to it, I only had 2 more fragmentation grenades. I looked around to see what others were doing – the elites were hiding behind the doors, providing little covering fire. Jack was doing the best he could to shoot until he had little shielding, then ducked. Sam was muttering something, as if he was a drug addict with a head injury. Suddenly there was a large explosion, large enough make me stagger. I looked around, bewildered. Adam had unleashed his Xploder, right into an incinerator shot. I switched on face-cam for my teammates, and Adam looked pleased with his work, smiling as if there wasn't a giant Promethean army bearing down upon us. I frowned in annoyance and saw that Sam was even closing his eyes! "Coward!" I scowled quietly, and unleased another grenade.

I dared to take a quick snap above my head above my cover – but a huge bullet shot by, creating a hole on a wall right on top of my head. I ducked and said, "Mental note: Daring could get you brainless." I pulled out my last grenade and chuck it over. Suddenly, there was another explosion, with screams of several Prometheans. I took the chance to flip out of cover and take several shots at the advancing Prometheans. I noticed that there was a band of small craters right in front. "Sticky detonators…" I mumbled, and then realised that Sam was biding his time until the Prometheans advanced. "Smart-ass, always leaving surprises." I grinned. The Prometheans were ruffled, their front ranks broken. Then there was a faint whooping sound, somewhere in amidst the endless seas of Prometheans.

Then a red light hovered in the air, my radiation alarms going crazy. Instinctively I realised what it was. "Shit!" I screamed, and ran towards Jack. He looked bewildered and managed to only shout "what – "before I tackled him to the ground. The air above lit up in hell fire, a concentrated super-laser aiming for where Jack's head was. The engine Jack used as cover incinerated itself and exploded into oblivion. I shot a look behind and gasped. The wall, or walls behind us was sizzling, melting and deforming after the laser passed through. Then I realised that I was on top of Jack and got off, quick smart. Jack growled, "'Bout time… thanks." I ran back to cover without replying. Jack had no cover and had to run back with the elites. "I think that's a charge-up. Otherwise the tank would've killed us by now." I radioed over. "Approximately 16 minutes passed since formation. This should be the charge up time." Sam replied. That meant 16 minutes until we needed to get our ass out of here. Then I heard a pelting of red slugs, smashing into my cover. "And watch out for its mini-lasers." I warned.

But however the Promethean poured in, we managed to push them back a little, and we managed to advance through the corridor, and was now having a battle at the mouth of it, giving a clear view of all parts of the auditorium. Unfortunately, that meant a clear view of us for them was well, and we were suppressed as hell. I peeked out, then ducked as 200 slugs instantly flew into my face. I leaned out of cover and shot wildly with my suppressor (what a fitting name!), hoping that any would hit. There were so many Prometheans, that they blanketed the floors and we needn't to aim. The trigger gave an empty click and I pulled it back. The HUD displayed 000. No more ammo. I threw it out, and brought out the incinerator. 1. Shot. Left. Shit. I was so absorbed that I had only one ammo left that I didn't see what was coming. I suddenly felt a big shove, and I was thrown to the ground. I looked up, bewildered, and saw a blue, flashing blade just hovering above my visor. "Filthy Knights." I spat, but inside I knew I was beat. The knight raised its sword and struck it down… down… down…? It never came. Instead, Jack was there in a flash, holding the blade and in a swift motion, jumped and kicked the knight, detaching it from its blade. It howled, and taking the chance, Jack stabbed it, right into its mask. It screamed, arms out wide and rigid, and burst into particles. There was always something satisfying with the "burst into particles" bit. Jack silently lent me his hand and I took it. We did not need words.

We were losing. No ammo, no plans, no nothing. The Prometheans. There was just too much. It was impossible to get us all out alive. All…alive? "Hey commander," I said, "may I have a field trip?" Jack looked sharply, and replied, "What?"

"Ya know, I always wanted to look at that giant hole in the middle of the room."

"This is not the time, Harry."

"Come on, just a quick peek?"

Then Jack realised what it meant. We looked at each other for a short amount of time, this time not of hatred, but of parting. Then Jack turned away. "Be quick." He growled, turning back to the rest of the squad. I smirked and saluted. I turned and faced the enemy, ready to spring out. My heart thumped like it was about to burst out screaming, but my head was unusually cool. 3… 2… 1… run.

I sprinted out, the Prometheans halting for a second, then rapidly converged on me. Everything seemed to slow down. My radar was blanketed red, but a line of green cautiously danced through. But then my whole armour was screaming, the shield bar depleted under so much fire. I was quick, and outran most of the hastily aimed bullets. I continued to watch the green line, and they had reached the blast doors on the other side. Most filed out, but one stayed defiantly in the room. Watching. I wanted to give a final salute. But I could not. Instead, I took my final step and jumped, into the engulfing darkness.


	7. Chapter 7 - Underground

I opened my eyes. I drowsily looked around, my head spinning uncontrollably. I was too weak to stand up and a cold trickle ran down my cheek. Blood. The armour started to power up again, and I felt a burning sensation, to which I winced, as the small, in-built bio-foam started to kick in and fill my guts with fire. Only after the pain numbed away, I took note of my current position. RIGHT ABOVE BOILING LIQUID. I looked lazily at the furious surface for a moment, and the nut in my head slid back in and I gasped. I was upon a small engine, floating gently above the liquid. It connected to 4 pipes that stretched right across the giant hole into the wall. I was dangling right on the edge, and there was a small dent where I had landed. I looked up and saw some ledges and walkways that were dented and distorted. I smiled at my piece of work, and crawled back up unto the middle of the engine.

I sat there for a long time. I recounted the past events, and initiated a brain damage check, then a body check. Except for several bruises that were so severe it burst and yielded blood, most of which were on my stomach, there was nothing wrong. But there was something wrong. HOW THE HELL WAS I SUPPOSED TO GET OUT!? I tiptoed above the glass tubes and touched the walls. Too smooth for me to climb. I unsheathed Slicer and struck it down on the walls, but it didn't make a dent. Right. So here was the checklist.

Lie here like an idiot. Check

Put two and two together and climb up. Check

Check for any injuries. Check

Wonder how I was to climb out of this shithole. Check.

Check if Slicer can bite on the walls. Check.

Continue lying here until death by starvation. Pending.

I groaned and tiptoed back to the engine, and looked back at the pipes. Could I possibly crawl through? Something ringed in my head… "This is not a natural formation. Someone built it. So it must lead somewhere." I laughed and remembered telling Adam this joke. Ah. Good times… wait. It must lead somewhere. IT MUST LEAD SOMEWHERE, DAMMIT. I snorted in this advice. An advice from a joke! I looked at the pipes, and said to myself, "how bad of an idea could it be?" and started to slice the top of the pipes with my Slicer.

Okay, it was a bad idea. It felt like the maintenance tunnels all over again. Crammed and clammy, twisting and turning endlessly. I groaned in longing to stretch, and continued on. But de light came at the end of the tunnel, and as soon as I saw it, I crawled as fast as I can. But then I heard something, and I lay silent, listening. Something was coming. A sloshing, boiling sound resounded through the tunnels, and it became louder and louder… I madly scrambled to the light, desperate not to get submerged by the approaching liquid. "Shit-shit-shit-shit-shit!" I screamed, but it was covered by the increasingly loud sound. My gauntlet desperately gripped and slid on the tunnel walls, my boots sliding on the metal. "Aah…aaaahhh… AHHH!" My shield sizzled as my boots touched the boiling liquid, just as I reached the entrance. I had to act quickly. I grasped the edge of the tunnel, gave one mighty kick as the liquid submersed my legs. I flipped myself out of the tunnels and dropped down, the liquid pouring out of the tunnel and into a pool below. My head spun, and saw my shield holding a hairbreadth's worth. One second in there and I would have been cooked. Then I realised that I was holding my breath. I heaved a mouthful of oxygen and I examined the room. Large, machines everywhere, pipes coming in and pouring in the same kind of liquid, into a vast vat. I pondered for a bit. Perhaps it was a mineshaft? But how could it automatically function? Who was running this place? I shook my head. Too many questions. I'd better get moving. I unsheathed my Slicer, as the only gun I had had one ammo left. Well, this mission got a whole lot more complicated.

I crept through the hallways, surprisingly empty. And silent too – perhaps it didn't have oxygen. But there was an occasional crawler patrol and I had to be careful not to allow it to bark. Many times I had to use my thruster pack before the dogs sighted me, and one time, I thought I had it when the crawler turned in my direction. But my training instincts took over and I stealthily grabbed on one of the pipes. As soon as the crawler lumbered through the doorway, I swung and jumped, landing softly on its blind side. I didn't know where I was going, all I knew was that I wanted out. Now. All rooms looked the same, all with giant vats covering the centre of the rooms. I finally reached some different rooms, but ooh! This room had one more button than the last! Ooh! This room was filled with purple liquid instead of yellow! I shook myself and sat down, anxious and despairing. I had, yet again, lost my pack, and had little ammo and was trapped in an endless labyrinth of forerunner structures! I had checked every room, every map, but in the end, I was lost…

Suddenly, I heard something. I struck my back against the doorway and leaned out of it. I looked carefully. A blue figure, with an occasional flicker of red, stood busily against the controls, flicking it with incredible quickness. It was humanoid, but too small for an actual human. An AI! A human one too! I was about to rush in and greet it, but I stopped myself. Why here? Why would it be working inside a foreign forerunner structure, with no accompanying human? Why was it flickering red? Was it rampant? Was it tortured, captured, brainwashed? But out of all the crazy questions that burst into my mind, I had one outstanding question. Was it on my side? I smirked at the pathetic craziness of today. First, allying with elites. Then falling through a giant hole, nearly getting melted and now trapped in a foreign structure. There were too many thoughts. Screw it, I'm going it. I crept in, Slicer raised. The AI turned around at once at the sound of my footsteps, and I recognised the AI – she was too well known.

"Hello Cortana."

**Thanks guys, nothing to say but PLEASE REVIEW!**


	8. Chapter 8 - The Construct

"Hello Cortana" I breathed, waving awkwardly.

I couldn't believe my eyes. Cortana. Lost in the Composer. Rampant. Dead. She was supposed to be destroyed! She said goodbye to the Chief! Okay, this day is getting weirder and weirder. I wanted to check if I was dreaming, but I'd have to take my helmet off first. And according to logic, take your helmet off while in the middle of Promethean space is not a good idea.

Cortana looked at me blankly, but it didn't that aura of intimidation was missing. It was simply… blank. "Um… hi?" I asked again. I stood nervously as she just stared at me. Then she spoke, but not what I expected – "Alerting Guards. Intruder detected." I instantly realised that she was brainwashed. I tried to persuade her out of it, pleading, "I'm on your side! I'm a human- a Spartan IV!" Then at the word of 'Spartan', her avatar flinched, but continued the droning alert message. Interesting. I gripped the projector tightly and continued, "I am of UNSC! Can't you see my FOF tag? Oh come on!" My radar showed a patrol group closing in. I got desperate. "Please! For UNSC! For humanity! For –"I stopped for a moment, then realised this was the only way to get her out. "- for John." Cortana stopped. Then she grimaced and collapsed, writhing and screaming in pain. I stood over her, horrified at what was happening. The rooms was coloured red, then blue, and continued this pattern. "She must be fighting against herself…" I mumbled, and then cheered her on, "For the Masterchief, Cortana! You can win this! Do it for him!" The flashes of blue got longer and longer, until there was no more red left.

But as soon as the room turned blue, my shield sizzled. I ducked behind the terminal, and waited silently as the group closed in. As I hid Cortana stopped writhing, instead sat panting on the ground, gasping deeply and shakingly. I had no time to comfort her. A crawler pounced and landed next to me, then turned and tried to snap at me. Instead, it got a mouth full of titanium, then to help it digest, I shoved Slicer down the 'throat' of the Promethean, and pulled it out. "Not for you doggy." I growled, and I jumped out, my Slicer held high. Two knights, 3 crawlers. I sprinted and jumped, unto the knight which was just raising its gun to fire. We landed heavily and I heard the satisfying crack of armour. The other knight opened fire, as well as the crawlers. I jumped off, kicking the Knight into the dogs in the process and back-flipped over the knight. The knight in retaliation started to teleport to my back, but I quickly stabbed the small singularity. Magnets in my knife warped the singularity, destroying the fragile balance it had. It re-emerged, as a mangled metal piece. I laughed and commented, "Looked like you are having DOG days!" Then a cheery voice replied, "I would question the use of that pun." I spun around and saw Cortana, fully recovered.

"What happened?" I questioned, but she simply replied, "This would not be the best time to talk. Put me in." I was a little confused. "Uh… how do you… um… put you in where?" I said, confused. She calmly (thank Chief for that, because if she got angry then it would be the first signs of rampancy.) stated, "take off the thruster pack and insert the terminal in there. I followed her instructions, and clipped her in. Instantly my head felt as if it was filled with cool fluid. "Spartan 024, Harry. Qualified as a Spartan just 2 weeks ago. Lots of room in here." She was a voice in my head! Ooh, I was not really used to this. I felt a little giddy, but Cortana stated, "I'd hurry to run if I was you. Detecting movements outside the corridor." I re-stocked the weapons, picking up the boltshot. I was about to abandon the cannon, but decided it could be useful to get out of a mess. I sprinted out the doorway my pursuers shooting. As I ran, Cortana filled me in.

"The good part of me, the part that had not succumbed to rampancy had protected Chief from the explosion. But the part that was rampant was in the composer, still overloading the shields. Diadact survived his encounter with Chief, and from the intel I got later on he was half dead and lost his right leg, but still alive. He escaped on a remnant of the Composer, as I did. The rampant copies were still in the remnants, until I was brought back together by the Diadact. He cleared my databases and bundled the copies together, tying the flawed copies to make one good one. Then he inserted a code-serum, without it I was rampant and useless, and with it I was under his control. I was worked as an overseer of this facility, before you came and mentioned him. I broke free of the serum and utilised it to repair myself. Now the code was an anti-dote to Rampancy."

I ducked down as the fire-squad shot, and I struck back with a charged up boltshot. "Uh, sorry, but I am surprised – "I headshot a watcher "- but I am in a middle of a battlefield right now, and I don't have time to express." I stated.

"Reasonable answer. Come on – the corridor down the left is free of enemies. Proceed there and close the blast doors." She replied, and I complied. I still felt weird having an AI. As soon as I closed the blast doors, there was a loud sound of pipes bursting and there was screaming sound from the opposite, and she happily stated, "I'm still connected to the facility, and have some control over it." I stood and asked, "What's this facility about?"

"This facility is a factory of sentinels and Prometheans. It is controlled by the Diadact, and he is planning to take over Fog and the rest of the shield worlds. I have analysed his movements, and it has been evident that he plans to re-awaken the systems and build more of the Prometheans and the sentinels. It can be speculated that he is planning revenge on humanity."

My heart stopped. I had realised how important this mission was. I gulped. It was beyond my grasp, this. But I had to do it.

"Cortana?"

"Yes?"

"I need to get you out of here."

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	9. Chapter 9 - The Escape

Although I felt really uncomfortable with a voice in my head at first, Cortana turned out to be a vital asset. She gave me the quickest routes and had some control over the facility, closing and opening blast doors at her will. As I ran, I questioned, "Where are we going?"

"To Sector Beta, the Cartographer room, where I can upload the map of the full facility there. That way, we can find the best escape plans as possible." She replied coolly.

I looked at the chances, and then dodged as a boltshot shot whizzed by. After taking out the watcher, I questioned again, "right, what are the chances without going there? What is the quickest route?"

"There are 2 exit routes possible. One is to crawl though mining vents and attack the mining control rooms. Then overload the drills and blast the ceiling. However, this is highly dangerous as there are enormous pressures that the MJONIR armour can only just handle, with 90% of the systems out of function and possible severe brain damage afterwards."

"Waaaaait a minute. You call that a possible route?" I asked,

"If your cranium is hard enough" she said, almost jokingly.

"Okay, what is the other alternative?" I said, pleading this option was not about amputation of limbs.

"An alternative is to assault the control room and pass through the main chambers. From there I can disengage locks on the War Sphinx and pilot it unto the surface. However the security on the main chambers are extremely high, not to mention Diadact is probably sleeping in there. This is also nearly impossible, for the amount of firepower –"

I took out my incinerator cannon and said, "If it's firepower we need, I've got that covered." Cortana chipped in, "this is crazy. But unfortunately for the both of us, I like crazy." I was surprised by her comment. This was exactly the same comment she stated to the Chief. Not complaining!

I followed the nav point, battling the Prometheans as I went along. It was rather easy, particularly enjoying the colourful implosions of the Prometheans. Perhaps the Diadact thought I was an easy prey. But it was nothing up to the main chambers. As I approached the doors, Cortana talked to me in hushed voice, "Be careful, the Diadact is in the main chambers. He is surrounded by a large amount of guards." Then it hit me. I was facing against the DIADACT. The last forerunner and the ugly-face devil. The one which previously killed Cortana and nearly, Masterchief. I got uncomfortable. Cortana chipped in. "I am reading heightened blood pressure and sweat. I suggest sneaking up around upon the catwalks up near the west walls." I realised that she was aware that I was nervous. I frowned and asked, "Wait, catwalks? They are goddam ancient to forerunners!"

"Yes, this is the oldest mines of the Forerunners. They only replaced parts of the structure to retrofit it into a factory and mine." She replied. Urg, history lessons. Living nightmare upon living nightmares. I looked around and saw a glowing side entrance. I gasped as the visor started up and decoded the forerunner runes. It must be Cortana. From what I have seen;

Cortana: 1 Sam: 0

The forerunner runes translated to: "Maintenance" I looked around as if I was a teenager about to sneak into an area of a house that owners didn't want me to- and in a way, I was. I crept up and Cortana opened the door. I took one sweeping glance and entered.

One thing hit me. The room was massive. I looked up and turned on my helmet scope. Nup, as far as I could see, the ceiling was further than as far as I could see. I looked back down and my neck was sore from all the staring. And the main chambers were blanketed with wait… I squinted and bit my lips. Split chins and methane-popcorn, bird brains and headless apes were staring into the centre of the chamber. I leaned over and grimaced. The ancient embodiment of hate stood in the middle, scanning his ignorant followers. "So that's where all the remnants went… after Chief and I blew up the Loyalists…" I frowned as Cortana trailed off. I re-ordered my objectives. Get Cortana out of here, and get her to Chief. Not to the UNSC. Not to the UNSC.

That is if I get my ass out of here! As soon as I looked into the distance, thinking about my objectives, there was a scream down below. I frantically looked down and a popcorn was screaming through its gas mask, jumping up and down. For that moment, every pair of eyes were directed at me. I stood there awkwardly. Did I say I was never the popular one? But for that brief second, I was. I realised what was happening and attempted to run across the catwalks. My boots just touched the edge of the tunnels when there was a blinding light and a deafening bang – my shields collapsed instantly, I was thrown heavily to one side of the railings. I felt blisters on my arm as I gained my bearings. I only had time to see the smouldering remains of the other side of the walks when the catwalks disconnected on one side and my weight made the whole path swing on its axle. I managed to hold on until the path smashed into a wall, throwing me tumbling over and over and out on the floor.

I lifted my head and saw that the Covenant were advancing. "Cortana? I am… sorry." I wheezed out. But Cortana wasn't there. The elites took their time, almost smiling. I had failed my mission. "Not yet!" Cortana shouted, and the whole of one side of the chamber opened up. All the Covenant – including Diadact, stared as a drill rumbled slowly into the chamber. As it entered, it bleeped dangerously red. Diadact shouted out orders desperately, the Covenant in panic. "Come on! The War Sphinx is right up ahead!" she shouted desperately. I managed to gather my wits and start hitting the road. I ran through the tunnels and Cortana said, "I overloaded the drills remotely and fed it to the main chambers. It should buy you some time." I smiled and updated the scoreboard.

Cortana: 2 Sam: 0

I entered the docking bay and there it was – the massive War Sphinx, waiting for a driver. I was about to disengage the locks when Cortana said "Harry, I read a friendly FOF tag. It's Sierra 117."

**Sorry for the delay guys! I had a lot of homework lately and didn't manage to get around to it. Sorry! **


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